A Kentucky boy and a DC gal. This is the story of two newlyweds beginning their new life together in the Nation's Capitol. Follow us as we begin to renovate our first home, a 1910 Federal-style porch front in heart of Capitol Hill East.

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Friday, July 12, 2013

Our New/Old Dining Chairs

Once upon a time (okay, honestly one year ago) I saw this ad on Craigslist for some free Parsons ch﻿airs. I thought they would be perfect for our dining room, but after picking them up I found out that they were a bit worse for the wear. There was a reason why they were free.

As you can see, the prior owners tried to reupholster these chairs themselves, attempting to change it from a flowery pattern to a red microfiber fabric...

But alas, they gave up on their project and put them on Craigslist for some sucker like me for someone to pick them up.

Because these chairs still had a good shape, I thought they could still be salvageable. I couldn't pay someone to reupholster them because the cost to reupholster them professionally would cost as much as getting new chairs.

I knew I couldn't reupholster them myself because I definitely don't know my way around a staple gun. I figured the next best thing would be to find some nice, yet affordable slipcovers for the chairs. After all, as long as you cover them, you won't know what all is going on underneath the slipcover, right? After deciding to go with slipcovers, I couldn't find any affordable Parson chair slipcovers that I liked. It appeared nothing was within my budget. Not finding the right slipcovers put this project on the back burner until I found these:

JCPenney's had these cotton canvas slipcovers on sale for 50% off (Down to $10.99 from $22)﻿! At about $44 for all four chairs I knew I had to nab them. I figured I could see if they worked and return them if they didn't.

As soon as the slipcovers came in the mail, we pulled the Parsons chairs out from the basement. After being put away for so long, we had to clean them. First, we started off the cleaning marathon by steaming them. Hopefully it killed all the bacteria that might have been lurking inside while in storage.

Then we had to Febreeze them to get the musty smell out. Next we had to polish the chair legs as they were a little dusty.

Lastly, I had to steam the wrinkles out of each slipcover because they had deep creases in them due to the packaging. I love our garment steamer! Although Justin is more of an iron person, the garment steamer is always my go to...and was especially helpful for this particular task.Ta da!

﻿

Yes, I know these aren't "quality" pieces per se, but I think they'll do for now. I like these chairs more than the chairs that we had before. Despite my taste for our "new" pieces of dining room furniture, we're still keeping our old chairs. You never know when you'll need the extra seating for any guests that decide to stop by (i.e.: Super Bowl)! I can't bring myself to buy any new furniture (read: expensive and non-craigslist) as I'm not sure what our future may bring, in regards to what size will be our "forever house", etc. The size of a particular space has a lot to do what what type of furniture you'll put in it, so for now, I'm fine with my piecemeal Parsons chairs. ;)